CLARKS SUMMIT, PA (April 30, 2011) – The Penn State Berks women's tennis team finished runner-up to top seed Keuka College in the North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) Championship on Saturday afternoon at Birchwood Tennis Center.
The No. 2 seed Nittany Lions opened up the tournament with a 5-3 win over Penn State Abington. The Storm, who were the only team to hand Berks a loss in conference play, were able to capture the conference title with a 5-1 win.
The Lions found themselves in a 2-1 hole at the end of doubles play in their match with Abington. The No. 3 doubles team of Liz Martinez and Rebecca Loewenstein-Harting were able to avoid the sweep with an 8-4 victory.
In the singles play, Crystal Hitz took care of business in the No. 1 flight with a 6-0, 6-3 win. Aimee Hoffman won 6-2, 6-3 at second singles and Abington claimed the win at third singles to tie the match 3-all with three matches to play.
Martinez (No.4 ) earned a 6-4, 6-2 win and Arion Harris picked up the clinching win in fifth singles by a score of 6-3, 6-0, sending Berks to the title match.
The championship round started out similarly, with Martinez and Loewenstein-Harting picking up the lone win in doubles play. They won by a score of 8-2.
Keuka won in the first three singles matches to clinch the win. Martinez and Harris were each leading, but the match was called after the Storm clinched the win.
The Nittany Lions will play tomorrow morning in the NEAC individual tournament beginning at 8 a.m.
